1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which cooperates with, for example, an application server to display a cost for outputting jobs, an image forming system, and a control method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for a function contributing to energy saving/cost reduction in an image forming apparatus such as a multi function peripheral (MFP). Thus, there is proposed, for example, a system in which a server calculates a cost for printing. There is also proposed a system in which jobs input from the PC terminal of a user are temporarily stored in a server and the user performs a predetermined operation through the operation unit of an image forming apparatus from which the user wants to print out, thereby acquiring the jobs stored in the server to print out. In this system, the server manages a price list, and has a function of calculating a cost necessary for outputting the temporarily stored jobs based on the setting information of the jobs. When the user instructs an output operation in the image forming apparatus, a screen provided by the image forming apparatus displays a cost necessary for outputting each job acquired from the server. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-280869 describes a system which presents a cost calculated by a server to the portable terminal of a user.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-075751 discloses a technique which attains a secure printout by holding user information and job information as a table within an image forming apparatus. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-075751 also describes a network printer which previously registers information about the user such as a usage charge, and counts the number of printed materials in printing to record charge information.
These days, in terms of reduction of installation cost/maintenance cost, many customers (users) require a print system which operates in image forming apparatuses supplied by the same vendor from high to low price ranges and the same application environment.
To implement a function cooperating with the above-described server, however, only an expensive image forming apparatus whose operation unit (UI) has adequate levels of a display capability and operability to implement the function and which supports an open platform is available. A low-cost image forming apparatus whose operation unit has a display area formed by a one-line LCD desirably operates in the same application environment as the expensive image forming apparatus. It is, however, difficult to provide the low-cost image forming apparatus with the same function as that of the expensive image forming apparatus due to the restriction of a UI or system. Consequently, it is also difficult to implement, in the low-cost image forming apparatus, a function of providing the user with cost information necessary for acquiring jobs from the server to print them out.